


Of Merfolk and Men

by InterstellarBlue (nagi_schwarz), nagi_schwarz



Series: Prompt Fills 2020 [13]
Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Crack, M/M, Surprise Pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25038982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/InterstellarBlue, https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: When Bin smiled back at him, Myungjun thought that never being able to sing again was totally worth it.
Relationships: Kim Myungjun | MJ/Moon Bin
Series: Prompt Fills 2020 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610299
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020, K-pop and K-drama AUs





	Of Merfolk and Men

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ami_ven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/gifts).



> Written for the 1980's comment_fic prompt: "Any, any, Little Mermaid (1989) AU."
> 
> Also, in the original story, mermaids had a lifespan of 300 years.

“Are you willing to give up your voice for your handsome prince?” Minhyuk’s expression was solemn.

Myungjun thought of beautiful Moon Bin, who came down to the water’s edge every day and just walked, thinking. He nodded. His voice was his best feature, but he was bright and funny and loveable. Minhyuk loved him. That’s why he was helping.

“I’m willing,” Myungjun said.

Minhyuk handed him the vial. He drank.

Jinwoo and Sanha dragged him to the surface before the change was complete, so he wouldn’t drown.

He was lying on the shore, panting and gasping for breath, trying to get his legs under him, when Bin arrived for his daily walk.

He was at Myungjun’s side in an instant, wrapping his coat around Myungjun, helping him to his feet, talking a mile a minute.

Myungjun’s voice was gone, and he could make no reply, but he could smile.

When Bin smiled back at him, Myungjun thought that never being able to sing again was totally worth it.

* * *

On the eve of Bin’s wedding to the beautiful prince Dongmin, Myungjun sat on the edge of the ship’s railing, gazing out at the stars beginning to rise on the horizon and missing his voice terribly. His heart hurt so much, and he wanted to  _ sing _ his feelings.

There was a splash, and Jinwoo and Sanha broke the surface. 

“Hyung! Has he said he loves you back? Does he know you were the one who rescued him?” Sanha asked. 

Myungjun shook his head. 

Jinwoo held up a dagger. “We gave Minhyuk some of our years to get this. If you stab him in the heart and let his blood drip on your feet, you’ll get your tail back and you can come home.”

His tail, but not his voice. 

Jinwoo swam closer, offered him the dagger. 

Myungjun tossed his head and recoiled. 

“Hyung, please!” Sanha begged. “If you don’t do it then you’ll die at dawn!”

Myungjun shook his head again. Kill his beloved Bin? He mouthed,  _ “Never.” _

Jinwoo was crying. “He’s not worth it. You saved his life and all he’s done is break your heart and condemn you to death.” He raised the dagger higher. “Take it.”

“Is it true?”

Myungjun turned. 

Bin stood at the ship’s railing, sleep-rumpled. “Did you really save me when my ship sank during the storm?”

“Yes it’s true,  _ pabo,” _ Sanha spat. 

“But the person who saved me - he sang to me.” Bin looked bewildered. 

_ “He _ sang to you, and then he gave up his voice to become human so he could love you, and look what you did to him.” Sanha snatched the knife from Jinwoo and heaved himself up the side of the ship. “Take it and end this and come home.” 

Myungjun shook his head, trembling and crying. He pushed Sanha away, but Sanha hung on fiercely. 

Bin cupped Myungjun’s face with one hand. “How could it have been you? I’ve heard Dongmin sing. Never the song I heard, but his voice is beautiful. But you -”

Jinwoo began to sing, too low and a little pitchy, but Sanha joined in. 

Bin stared at them. “That’s the song. How -?”

“Jinwoo and Myungjun wrote it together,” Sanha said. 

“The person I’ve been looking for all along is you.” Bin’s eyes were wide and solemn. “You never said.”

Myungjun clasped his fist to his chest. He’d tried, over and over again. Done anything Bin wanted to make him smile, dancing even though it was like walking on knives, staying with him no matter what.

“Of course he never said.” Sanha rolled his eyes. 

“But I know it’s you now.” Bin drew Myungjun into his arms. “I wanted it to be you, but it seemed so impossible, and then Dongmin knew things about the shipwreck, and -”

Myungjun pressed a finger to his lips. 

Bin fell silent. Myungjun pressed a finger to his own lips, then beckoned. 

Bin shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

Jinwoo rolled his eyes.  _ “Yah! _ Kiss him.”

“Oh! Oh.” Bin turned to Myungjun. “May I?”

Myungjun nodded vigorously. 

The kiss was perfect, soft and sweet and warm. 

“Oh no, the prince does not love me, he wants to call off the marriage and no one will ever want to marry me. Oh no,” Dongmin said flatly. 

Bin pulled back, eyes wide. 

Dongmin stood on the deck, expression unamused. 

“I can explain,” Bin began. 

“Please don’t. Just call off the wedding so I can be on my way.” Dongmin was fully dressed and carrying his valise. 

Bin frowned. “You...don’t seem upset.”

Before Dongmin could answer, a familiar voice called out, “Over here!”

Everyone turned, and there, beside the ship, a small coracle bobbed. Minhyuk bobbed beside it, holding a rope attached to its bow. 

“Are you calling off the wedding or not?” Dongmin asked. 

Bin blinked at him. “Of course.”

“Excellent. Thank you. I wish you both much happiness.” With that, Dongmin tossed his valise over the side.

It landed in the coracle. 

Dongmin threw himself overboard after it. 

He landed in the water, but Minhyuk pulled him to safety. They kissed, long and slow and familiar, and then Dongmin shed most of his clothes and climbed into the coracle. 

“Let us depart, Minhyuk. Our desert island awaits.” 

Minhyuk nodded and swam away, towing the coracle. 

“So...that just happened,” Bin said. 

“What now?” Sanha asked. “Are you going to marry our brother?”

“Well, there is a wedding tomorrow, and I will need a groom.” Bin smiled and kissed Myungjun again. 

“As long as you keep him happy, he won’t need this knife, but we’re going to hold onto it,” Sanha said, retreating to the water. 

He went to hand it to Jinwoo, but the hilt broke. 

_ “Pabo!” _ Jinwoo grabbed the hilt before it was lost beneath the waves forever. He held it up, shook the water off it. A vial tumbled onto his palm, along with a piece of fish leather. 

“What’s that?” Sanha asked. 

Jinwoo unrolled the scaly little scroll and read. “‘Drink this. Get your voice back. Thanks for the years so Dongmin and I can have many together.’”

Myungjun’s eyes went wide. He leaned over the railing and held out his hand. He nearly toppled overboard, but Bin’s hands on his waist steadied him. 

Jinwoo handed him the vial. 

Myungjun uncapped it, swallowed its contents. And then he felt it, a warm glow in his chest that spread through his entire body until he could feel it in his throat. 

He coughed. 

Bin caught him by the shoulders. “Are you all right?”

Myungjun smiled and said, “I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> I researched the origins of the Little Mermaid on Wikipedia and learned that the story was quite possibly a big gay love letter from the author to a friend of his who was getting married. And my brain ran in weird little circles, and this happened, as I explained to a friend: "I've always liked how tragic The Little Mermaid was, but then I looked at the prompt, and I thought, did they mean the cartoon? Because that ended happily, and then I got confused, and then I just said, oh screw it, there's mer-people, that's all, and since it was a big gay love letter, they're gay mer-people."
> 
> Also I adore Minhyuk too much to make him a true villain.
> 
> For now.
> 
> Also in my head the song Myungjun sang while he was watching over Bin was Bloom, because it's beautiful, okay? Okay.


End file.
